


three little words

by MissSunFlower94



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Friendship/Love, Gen, Philia/Storage, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSunFlower94/pseuds/MissSunFlower94
Summary: Love in words as much as actions.Azu Week 2020 Day 6: Philia/Storage, or Platonic Love
Relationships: Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan & Azu
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21
Collections: Azu Week 2020





	three little words

“Thanks, Hamid. Love you,” Azu says absently, accepting the tea she had asked him to bring her later, if he had a minute. Azu is still reluctant to ask Zolf for anything, though she thinks being useful calms him down, and Hamid is happy to have a task - however quick - that gets him out from under the kobolds’ constant watching. There’s still a few days in this extended quarantine and it alarms her that she’s starting to find a comfortable routine in such a chaotic time. 

Azu looks up from blowing on her tea to find Hamid still there, looking at her with an odd expression. “What is it?” She asks. 

He shakes his head, his cheeks a bit darker than normal. “Nothing- nothing. It’s just- well, I- you just- I don’t think you’ve ever said you loved me before.”

Azu digests that, and quickly feels her own face growing hot. “Oh- oh. Hamid, I- I didn’t mean- I meant, so far as you’re- you’re a good friend. Please don’t think I-”

Hamid gets even more red, raising his hands as though to ward off her explanation. “Oh no- I didn’t- I didn’t think that was how you- I knew you didn’t mean-” 

“I- okay. Okay.” Azu takes a steadying breath. “I just hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh no! Not at all.” He’s laughing now, the sound equal parts embarrassed and relieved. “I just- I love you, too, Azu.” 

“Oh, that’s- that’s good,” she says, and she repeats it for good measure. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

They’re both laughing now, and repeating the sentiment again and again and Azu can’t actually remember the last time she’s said it. As a paladin of the goddess of love, she’s taught to express that love in actions as well as in words, if not more than in words, and as such the simple phrase is not used nearly as often as one might think. Azu realizes in that moment just how much she’s missed it. From the grin on Hamid’s face, she has a feeling he feels something similar.

When the laughter has faded, she wipes at tears that had gathered in the corner of her eyes. “I’ve never understood people who don’t say ‘I love you’ to their friends, honestly.”

“Exactly!” Hamid agrees empathetically, and she can tell this is something he has been sitting on for a while. “You should love your friends as much as anyone romantically!”

“Exactly!” Azu echoes. She once again silently thanks Aphrodite that she has Hamid with her. They don’t always agree on things, but they do understand each other. A thought occurs to her and she laughs a very different, softer laugh. “Grizzop and Sasha… wouldn’t have gotten that.”

Pain flickers across Hamid’s expression for an instant, and then his lips twitch. “Oh, absolutely not. Can you imagine the look on their faces if we’d ever said “I love you” to them?”

In spite of everything, the image is indeed hilarious. Grizzop, utterly flummoxed, at a rare loss for words, and Sasha, stumbling over some sort of awkward response. They’d find solidarity in each other, though, and it would be alright in the end.

Azu closes her eyes for a moment and sniffs. “I still wish we’d told them.”

Hamid comes closer again, resting a hand on Azu’s forearm. “They knew, Azu. Whether we said it or not.”

“I know.” She reaches down to pick Hamid up in a brief hug that he goes willingly as ever into. “It’s still nice to- to hear.”

She sets him down and he wipes at his eyes as well. “Yeah, I know.” He glances behind him for a moment and then back at Azu with an apologetic smile. “I should get back to helping Cel with the- the brorb.” He winces a little at the awkward word their alchemist has coined, and Azu grins. “Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine, Hamid. Thank you.”

“Right.” He lingers a second longer in the doorway. “Love you, Azu.”

Her smile softens. “Love you, too.”


End file.
